Escape
by TheWaffleKid
Summary: After finding a boy with Enhanced Abilities in the desert, Manic the Hedgehog's life is turned upside down yet again as he's finally presented an opportunity to escape his miserable reality.
1. Chapter 1

Manic the Hedgehog hated going to hospitals. It wasn't the blood or the needles that bothered him rather it was the _waiting._ Everyone always had to wait when they went for even the tiniest of reasons, making a mere trip wasteful of valuable time. He knew tons of people that could do the same work any fancy-shmancy doctor could do and at the time he would have gone to them had it not been an emergency. Yet there he was, unsurprised that he had to _wait_ in the lobby for fifteen minutes. No matter how hard he tried, Manic's impatience got the best of him and his feet automatically tapped on their own, his fingers drumming along with them, until he heard a voice speak to him.

"Hey, asshole."

Manic exhaled in relief. _Finally._ The nurse—a cute sky blue hedgehog by the name of Clear—glared at him expectantly just beyond the waiting area, gesturing for Manic to follow her.

He grinned. "Y'know I respond to my actual name too, right?"

Clear's face was void of any expression as she led Manic through the corridor. "Yeah, but I don't care."

Manic's grin only widened; THIS is how the pair got along. After paying her a compliment in a way that offended her on their last date, she's acted sourly towards him, but it didn't repel him like she (probably) hoped it would.

"It's been a while, are you still sensitive about—?" he teased her.

"Angry, yes. Sensitive, no." They reached a set of doors and she jerked one open with the intent to hit him. However, Manic quickly jumped back and chuckled to himself. They continued down the corridor until they reached their destination: a room behind a one-way window. On the other side of the window was the boy, a young raccoon no older than ten years old. Despite being wrapped in bandages with a tube going into his arm and genuinely looking better than the night before, Manic felt worried.

"How is he?" he asked.

"Dehydrated, starved, banged up pretty good. He's got a shit ton of bruises and burn marks. Looks like he was shocked by something. But on the bright side, we did a full diagnostic on him and he doesn't have any harmful substances in his system."

These days, children weren't spared from being claimed by the slums Robotnik's presence created. Kids younger than the raccoon have been found with high traces of drugs in their systems. They became hooked either voluntarily or by adults to forcefully make them dependent. The thought made Manic clench his jaw; circumstances like that were just another fucked up thing about this world.

The raccoon was awake, staring at the ceiling blankly.

"Can I go talk to him?"

"Only if you don't say anything stupid." Clear sounded like she said that with a hard roll of her eyes.

"But stupid is half my language," Manic smirked back at her as he left the room.

* * *

"Heyyy, kiddo. How are you feeling?"

The boy's shiny copper orbs remained trained on him while he took a seat in the chair next to his bed. He stayed silent, but he cocked his head slightly, cautiously regarding Manic. It made the hedgehog wonder what the kid was thinking about.

"Okay, let's start with names," he said with a friendly grin. "I'm Manic. Manic the Hedgehog. What's your name?"

That's when the boy started twiddling his fingers and he looked down at his hands. "Uh…Ridge."

His response prompted a genuine smile from the thief. "Ridge, awesome. You look like you're doing better, they treating you well here?"

Ridge nodded.

"It's not the first place I had in mind to take you to—" Manic looked around the room "—but it'll do."

"Mister—"

"You can just call me Manic, kiddo."

"Manic," Ridge started again. "Thank you for saving my life yesterday. I don't….I don't know what would have happened if you didn't…." The boy started to tear up, choking on the sentence.

Manic took Ridge's hand, smiling softly. "Hey, don't think about it. I found you and you're safe now, yeah? There's no need to start thinkin' about what would have happened otherwise."

"I..." Ridge sniffed. "I don't know if they can fix me, though."

This caused Manic to frown. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"I….The Bad Man did something to me and now I'm seeing weird things in my head."

Manic quickly jumped to the mentality of an alert fighter. "Ridge, what did this Bad Man do to you? Who is he?"

Ridge's breathing became more labored, his little chest rose and fell deeper, and he clasped Manic's hand with both of his. He closed his eyes, turning his head up toward the ceiling in concentration and—

* * *

" _No! No!"_

 _Manic heard screaming, but it was muted, as if he were in a pool of water. His vision was no better in fact, Manic was convinced he was having a hallucination of being underwater. He could barely make the tall figures looming over him as a shock of energy fried his body._

 _The screaming was different this time. He….also….felt it?! He FELT it! That scream, that pained scream was coming from HIS throat! His body moved without him wanting to move it and he felt a pair of restraints on his wrists. He pulled and pulled, but it only resulted in having the restraints dig into his skin._

 _Then he was surrounded in a dark room with bars—a cell. There were frightened whimpers and moans of pain resonating off the walls. He couldn't make out his surroundings properly and his feet became tangled up. It didn't help that his head POUNDED and he gasped, reaching up to touch his skull. He swore he could feel his brain throb and it hurt so much, it drove him to the ground with curled fists pounding against the floor._

" _HELP!" came the young voice again. "Please! It HURTS—_

* * *

Manic didn't know where he found the strength to yank his hand away from the boy, almost tipping his chair over completely. Small beads of sweat formed on his forehead and his breathing was heavy, as if he'd just finished sprinting.

He couldn't believe what was happening. As far as he knew, _no one_ in this dimension had any Enhanced abilities. If there'd been just one person that did, the Rebellion would have been able to overpower Robotnik much sooner. Manic himself was the closest thing these people had to a super-powered being because of his Medallion.

"What did you—What did you do to me?"

His reaction made Ridge's breathing shallow and quick from fear. "I-I don't know. They did this to me. But I think maybe you can help me."

"Why?"

"Because I know you have powers too."

* * *

 **I've been working on this story for a loooong time now; nearly two years. The inspiration came from a short I wrote. I've always like Manic and I wanted to reinvent his image. I HOPE it works out as well as I'm imagining it will. ^-^()**

 **The nurse is the original, _original,_ version of one of my OCs. I've changed all of them these past years, for example, Ridge was supposed to be a girl! But it didn't always sit well with me for some reason. So there's that.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

" _What?"_ Nobody knew about what his Medallion could do, how could he? Manic instinctively reached up his ear to finger his piercing, made from the same metal as the original Medallion. "How did you know about it?"

"I think what I see are memories. I-I don't know how it works too much, but I can see them. Like with you. I've seen you move the ground, I've seen you fight with a blue and pink hedgehog."

Manic's heart stopped.

His blood froze.

And someone may as well have kicked Manic in the stomach because when he spoke, he had to force the words out. "How did you know about them?"

Ridge reached for his hand again.

* * *

 _Manic liked the sound of crashing waves; it wasn't something he had access to growing up in the city. He never imagined he ever would either, but to be fair he never thought of a future outside the streets. More so than the waves, Manic liked the sand on the beach. It was so soft, the first time he felt it he thought it tickled. Every time he and the siblings went to a beach, he removed his gloves just to be able to feel it. On this particular trip, he purposefully dug his hands deep into the ground as he piled sand onto Sonic, who was relaxing with his hands crossed behind his head._

 _If the blue hedgehog ever felt annoyed with randomly being buried under a heap of sand, he never said anything—never even opened his eyes—and he smirked. "I hope you know how to build a decent sand castle."_

 _Manic glanced to the shoreline and grinned mischievously, retrieving a fistful of wet sand._

" _Nope, just mud pies and sandballs," he said, smearing it across Sonic's face._

 _Sonic immediately jumped out of the sand pile and began to spit, wiping his muzzle with the back of his hand. His reaction had Manic dying of laughter, he almost missed him say: "Think fast!"_

 _A sandball whizzed past him and hit the van, shattering and sending moist sand everywhere. The scream that followed was so high-pitched, Manic's eardrums felt like they shattered. Sonia had leapt up from her lawn chair, wiping away at her skin frantically, and although Manic knew it would get him in even more trouble, he couldn't help but to point and laugh. Sonic took the opportunity to hit him in the back of the head with another sandball and he laughed so hard, he had to bend over._

" _I told you to think fast!"_

" _WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO IDIOTS?!" Sonia's shrill voice caused the two brothers to wince. "Just because we're animals doesn't mean we need to ACT LIKE IT. Oh what am I saying, you two just ENJOY IT, DON'T YOU—_

* * *

The emerald thief may as well have been paralyzed. He hadn't seen his siblings in so long, his heart sank when he realized his memories of them seemed to be fading. He didn't remember Sonic's eyes being so bright, they resembled emeralds! And Sonia…Manic swore that his _actual_ ears were ringing from the sound of her yelling.

One second longer, that's all he wanted to ask for was just one. Second. Longer. But once the unknown hands started to pull him out of the chair, he was forced to snap out of his trance to shove off whoever the hell was doing that. There was no way was he about to be dragged out of a damn medical room like a crazy person; his pride wouldn't allow it.

Just as he was about to tell them to back off, there was a tremor, a small earthquake that made the lights flicker on and off. Everyone froze and looked around in terrified confusion. There had _never_ been a tremor in this area before. One of the nurses immediately went to check on Ridge's machine and told the other to go do the same to another patient.

Manic took the opportunity to quickly stride out of the room and leave the hospital to have some time alone. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, the only things he saw was the most royal shade of blue and the strongest color of pink he'd ever seen.

And he didn't want them to fade into watercolors again.


	3. Chapter 3

Something was wrong with Manic. He was _never_ quiet. Everyone knew that his top-notch thieving skills always included his charming (bordering on annoying) charisma, but today not a single quip was thrown during the routine train heist—not even a smile—so the crew was naturally worried. The leader was planning to bench him for the rest of the heist after he disabled the security system on the last car; he didn't want to find out whether Manic was a liability or an asset at the cost of the hedgehog's own life.

But they didn't get the chance to make it. A robot approached with heavy steps, it's massive machine gun arms raising to take aim on the group.

 _Intruders detected. Orders to kill any foreign suspects—_

Manic reacted with his usual quick reflexes and in a matter of seconds, he whipped out his laser pistol and shot the robot down. It happened so fast, the leader was left breathless and his decision to send Manic packing now seemed unnecessary. Even when he wasn't completely there, the young hedgehog was still at the top of the game.

As soon as they kept moving, Manic went back to autopilot though he successfully hacked the system, allowing the crew to raid the car. He didn't participate in the celebratory high-fives and the leader decided to take a moment to approach him.

"Hey, you okay?"

Manic didn't spare him a glance as he shoved a pack of cookies into his fanny pack. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Hm." The leader wasn't satisfied with the answer. He figured the young hedgehog just needed some time alone to deal with something, but after everything Manic had done to make these jobs successful, the leader thought he could at least offer support. "You know if you ever need anything, you can come to me, right?"

Manic stopped moving and looked up at him with sad eyes, which made him seem older and in need of a two-day nap. Maybe he didn't mean to do it, maybe he really tried to be reassuring, but the grin he offered the team leader was weak and unnatural on his face. It made him seem like a different person all-together.

"Thanks, man," he said. "I'll be fine."

* * *

During one of their missions Manic and his siblings stumbled upon a thief dwelling. The siblings had helped one of the residents and were offered a place to stay the night in compensation. Sonia did _not_ like the idea and she decided to spend the night in the van instead after voicing several complaints.

" _I don't know how_ anyone _could live like this."_

Manic's temper sparked and he went off on her so bad, Sonic had to intervene by stepping in between them.

" _Manic, don't do something you'll regret. You know she didn't mean it."_

" _Yeah, well maybe she didn't, but she made it pretty damn clear to me that she thinks these people had a_ choice _to live this way, that I_ _ **chose**_ _to become a low-life thief because it seemed to be pretty cool. Well news flash princess, we live this way because it's the only way we can_ _ **survive**_. _"_

" _Manic, wait—"_

" _Let him take a moment to himself, Sonia."_

Perhaps Manic wouldn't be thinking of his siblings if Ridge hadn't thrown him in the past, but here he was. He pushed the memories aside and helped a member of the crew hand out free provisions to the orphans.

The leader took the rest of the crew and the supplies with him to negotiate a price with the Resistance. There were two forces of opposition in this world: the rebels and the Resistance. Rebels were more freelance while the Resistance operated like a military with rules and schedules, something Manic couldn't follow which is why – though he occasionally teamed up with the Resistance – he preferred rebels.

When the rebels and the Resistance did join forces, it was for a good cause. This last haul Manic participated in was mainly to get supplies for a new batch of orphans the Resistance brought in. _Mainly._ They couldn't resist stealing extra useful provisions to sell to the Resistance.

While handing out the supplies, Manic spotted a crying kid and he went to see what was up. There was already another boy comforting him, patting his shoulder in a reassuring manner, and Manic placed his hand on his other shoulder when he knelt down to talk to him.

"Hey kid, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"I—I—My b-brother—"

"All right kiddo, I'ma need you to take a deep breath and talk to me yeah? What's going on with your brother?"

"M-My brother was taken from me. He and I were out a-and….and…he was kidnapped!"

"By who?"

"I don't know, they were wearing cloaks. Th-they tried to take me too, but my friend pulled me away when I tried to go help my brother."

Manic ruffled the other boy's hair with a lazy grin. "Good job, kid. That was very brave of you. You'll make a fine rebel just yet."

Though the cookies were for himself, Manic pulled out the pack and shared two with each boy. "Can you tell me where this happened?"

* * *

Cities would never compare to the places that Manic's seen with his siblings, but no matter how trashy they were they would always feel like home. He soared above on Pansy, his Extreme Gear, and he never once took his eyes off the streets below. As hard as he looked, he couldn't find any cloaked characters or _anyone_ who seemed even mildly suspicious.

 _Whelp…Let's go ask around._

It would have been easy to steal some food, but the people here were poor and Manic wasn't one to steal from the poor. As a matter of fact, he gave them more money, refusing to accept any change.

"Well, thank you," a kind shopkeeper said.

"No worries," Manic took a bite out of the hot dog he bought. (He didn't understand how Sonic could like _chili_ dogs; he tried them once, wasn't a big fan.) "Mm….before I go can I ask you if you've seen anyone suspicious around these parts? Or have you noticed anything that's been going on?"

In reality Manic wasn't expecting the nice lady to know anything, but he was grasping at straws; _anything_ would have been helpful.

"Oh these parts have been dangerous lately," the shopkeeper answered immediately. "I don't let my kids stay out past 8:30 because of it."

"Really? What's been happening?"

"Well, people keep disappearing. I have a friend whose sister's son went missing a few weeks ago. The police are still trying to find him."

"Was he in any kind of trouble?"

"Not that she mentioned."

Well, it sounded like he was in the right area. "Are there any places in particular you don't want your kids going to?"

The lady shrugged. "The usual, bars, abandoned neighborhoods where the drug addicts go. I know this may sound over-the-top, but I've also told them to stay away from that abandoned factory that's just been opened up aga—"

"Wait, wait," Manic snapped up a hand. "What factory?"


	4. Chapter 4

The city did have its fair share of run down, abandoned buildings, but this one took the cake. This 'factory' looked rusty and certain walls were missing, creating holes for a ballsy person to walk right inside. From what Manic could tell there were no security patrols, but he wasn't about to just fly in there all willy-nilly. That's how the ballsy people got killed.

If he flew in with big, bright ol' Pansy, all the element of surprise would be gone, so he landed just beyond the fence and made Pansy shrink until it was the size of a USB, making sure his cloak was on securely. There were no discrepancies on the way to the factory itself and Manic ran inside, taking cover behind a fallen pillar.

He didn't hear anything so far and it was darker than it was outside, too much for his eyes to adjust, so he slid his shades down and switched them to Night Vision mode. The Resistance had practice courses on their bases that simulated raids and he'd weasel himself in for a few sessions every now and then. His body went into muscle-memory mode and he darted further into the factory like a SWAT operative.

Soon, he stumbled into a room where the light beams worked and he pushed his shades up again and he heard the unmistakable sound of a robot.

 _Robotnik._

He pulled his laser pistol from his holster, slowly moving down the corridors.

Manic mildly wondered why Buttnik's defense systems were so low. It wasn't in his fashion to have this place so bare. At least one thing was clear: Robotnik was behind the recent kidnappings. Why? It didn't make sense. Robotnik was kidnapping people _aside_ from the people he took to roboticize? What for?

That's when Manic stopped dead in his tracks. _Ridge._ His gut was telling him the kid was somehow involved in this.

It wasn't too long after that he encountered his first enemy, a huge robot which required five shots to bring it down. Manic had to move faster now because if another patrolling robot found this one, he'd be discovered and caught.

His loose plan required him to stay on the bottom floor to find the surveillance room. He didn't see any obvious cameras poking out while he infiltrated the factory, but he was sure there was _some_ sort of surveillance going on.

After searching nearly the entire entrance floor for said surveillance room (and shooting down a few robots), Manic _finally_ found it. He holstered his pistol and locked the door behind him, running up to the dashboard's various screens. Luckily, he didn't have to waste any time hacking the computer and he quickly glazed over the screens. Aside from corridors, it seemed that this place had crappy medical rooms with low tier equipment, empty cells, and bingo! Cells with occupants. He found them!

The prisoners seemed to range between kids and actual adults, though Manic didn't hear anything about disappearing adults. Manic read the corner of the screens and counted a total of 34 prisoners.

Then he read something that made his blood freeze: _Chaos Emerald Control Room._

 _Since when did Robotnik have the Chaos Emerald?!_

Manic didn't have time to dwell much on the discovery as the door behind him blew open.

* * *

The force of the explosion sent the emerald hedgehog flying forward and he hit his head against the flip switches on the dashboard. He didn't know what happened after that, his vision was blurry and his ears rang. He stumbled around drunkenly and fell to the ground, reaching up to touch his aching head. He knew he was bleeding—his fingers were covered—but he didn't know where it was coming from and hell, it hurt to cough. He could only hope that he wasn't coughing up blood as well.

A big silhouette stepped through the fiery hole where the door was at. No surprise, it was a robot, but this one was projecting Dr. Robotnik's face on a screen.

 _No….I need to….I need to get away._ Manic sluggishly scooted away from the bot, reaching into his fanny pack for Pansy, but he was too slow. The bot reached him in two steps and, with its claw, trapped Manic by the neck. The emerald hedgehog was positive he cried out in pain. Just like the memory with Ridge, he felt the yell tear out of his throat, but that dull ringing had remained in his eardrums. Gasping, he swallowed hard and tried to focus on the screen because it seemed like the doctor was talking. Maybe he could read his lips if he focused hard enough….

"….you were here?...the second you stepped into the building…."

Manic's eyes closed and he wondered if Robotnik would be courteous enough to give his hearing a chance to catch up if he asked politely.

"I can't….Just shut up, Buttnik." Hearing his voice was a plus, no matter how weak it sounded.

Robotnik sneered and brought him closer to the screen. "You always _were_ the weakest of the three royal rats. I'm glad that whatever happened that day with the Chaos Emerald, I ended up being stuck with _you_. Had it been Sonic, I would've been ruined. Hell, even your sister had more of a chance than you ever did, but no matter—" Robotnik slammed Manic against the dashboard, shoving the robot's bazooka arm into his stomach. "—it's time to finish off the royal lineage for good."

Everything that came out of Robotnik's mouth snapped Manic's temper in two and his blood boiled in rage. It had taken a long time for him to work out of his insecurities, especially when it came to his role in Sonic Underground, but he knew he wasn't _useless._ He had a wide range of technical and mechanical knowledge and his thieving skills were constantly sought out by the rebels and the Resistance alike. He was an important people in the fight against Robotnik and for the old geezer to pick at a scab like that? It pissed the hedgehog off so much, he wasn't even thinking about the danger he was in and he kicked away the bazooka in defiance.

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" he yelled.

Then—out of NOWHERE—three sharp, giant stalagmites exploded from the ground, impaling the robot and putting it out of commission.


	5. Chapter 5

Manic had his mind made up as he rode out of the factory on Pansy: he was going to the Resistance to tell them what he found. He was positive that out of all the organizations, teams and groups, they'dhave the means and numbers to help. The hedgehog wasn't sure how, but he knew he needed to come up with a plan to save the hostages _and_ retrieve the Chaos Emerald in one go.

 _The Chaos Emerald._ Last time he saw it, it separated him from his home world. The fact that he _found_ it again after all this time made him feel _ecstatic;_ he was that much closer to reuniting with his siblings.

The adrenaline soon began to wear off and he began to feel woozy, making it more difficult to ride Pansy than he anticipated.

 _Hold on. You're almost there._

Nothing was going to stop him from going to the Resistance, not with the Chaos Emerald in play. He _needed_ to get to the Resistance before Robotnik decided to pack up and go someplace else. It was only a matter of time. But his body had other plans and before he knew it, he found himself fighting to keep his eyes open. Why was he so tired all of a sudden? He shook his head and slapped himself.

"For fuck's sake!" he growled. "Get it together and get to the fucking base! You have to make it, if not for those people then at least for _them._ "

 _At least for them._

The words echoed as Manic's body started to give out on him and – much to his anger and desperation – he lowered his altitude so when he did black out seconds later, his body didn't suffer the damage it would have if he stayed where he was.

* * *

Manic had mixed feelings when it came to dreams. After becoming split from his siblings, all of his dreams were tainted by that blinding explosion that enveloped everything in its path. He'd see his final moments with Sonic and he wanted nothing but to scream, " _We need to leave, we need to leave NOW!"_

He wanted to take his hands and tell Sonic to run, to get them as far away as he could before the light appeared, but no. Each and every sleeping moment, he helplessly relived that night until it shifted. Their dialogue changed, and it gave Manic hope that the nightmares would stop, but they got worse. Sleet and Dingo broke into the computer room, holding Sonia as a hostage, and Sonic couldn't run down the robot they brought along with them. The gunshots that followed were almost drowned out by Sleet's amplified laugh. Manic never saw his siblings get gunned down, never heard them scream either, but he perceived them. He knew they were there with him, meeting the fate predicted for them.

From there, he and his sibs usually died in his sleep. The paths leading up to it would change, but it always ended the same. After a while, other new elements were added, one being his mother. Sometimes, Manic dreamed that he and his siblings were at that base to go save her ( _they would be so close!_ ) and other nights, they endlessly chased Aleena's voice through the corridors.

" _I left the kingdom entrusted to you,"_ she once said, _"Don't fail me."_

It took years for the hedgehog to reach the point where he didn't have any dreams and he was relieved. His friendships with the rebellions prompted new, good memories and when Manic started to dream again, they finally served as an escape. However deep down, the hedgehog was waiting for the day he'd start dreaming about the explosion again and that night, after passing out mid-air, he did.

It all started out at the Medical Wing. Manic walked straight to Ridge's room, but when he opened the door he saw Sonic and Sonia on each side of the hospital bed, where Hip Hedgehog laid. Hip was an orphan hedgehog the siblings found on one of their adventures. Manic was put in charge of taking care of him and at first, he was irritated with it. But then the kid warmed up to him and Manic grew fond of him, which is why it hurt to find out the kid was actually a surveillance bot Robotnik built.

The emerald thief internally swallowed. Seeing Hip again gave him a pang of sadness added on top of the nostalgia from seeing his siblings.

 _I miss you guys._

Sonia looked up with her pale blue eyes. "Oh Manic, he hasn't woken up yet!"

Sonic was reclining on the other side of the bed, his hands crossed behind his head. "I told her to relax, bro. Clear says he'll be okay."

Sonia glared at him. "Oh please, as if that _nurse_ could give us a proper diagnostic—"

"Careful Sonia." Sonic slid an eye open to look at her. "Manic here has a crush on that nurse. You wouldn't want to get on his bad side."

Regardless of what Manic felt in his core, in his dream he grinned and shrugged. "Well you wouldn't be wrong about one of those things, bro."

Sonia rolled her eyes. "The poor kid came out of Robuttnik's factory, who knows what was going on in there?"

The door opened and Clear walked in with her clipboard, handing Sonia a slip of paper. "Someone just came in and told us to give it to you."

Her eyes widened after she skimmed it and she looked up at her brothers. "It's Robotnik. We need to get back to that factory."

 _No._

Sonia stood and started towards the door. "He says he has a cure to help Hip! We have to—"

Then it happened. The room exploded, and the light engulfed everything.


	6. Chapter 6

"No!" Manic tried to sit up, but there were tubes in his nose that made his head snap back into a pillow. There was this rapid beeping and it took Manic a few moments to realize it was a heart monitor. He was at the Medical Wing.

 _When did he—?_

"Hey, hey. You need to calm down." Clear appeared out of nowhere and put a hand on his chest.

"Clear?" He frowned as he looked her over. She wasn't wearing her smocks in fact, she was in comfortable sweats. Was she on the clock?

"Well at least now we know the blow to the head didn't result in amnesia."

Manic laughed weakly. "This isn't how I ever imagined waking up next to you, but I guess I'll have to take it."

The laughter made him wince. Aside from feeling a little tired his chest was sore, probably from how roughly the robot grabbed him back in the surveillance room at the factory. Clear rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair next to the bed, her arms crossed. "Of course you'd still joke around after waking up in a _hospital_ bed."

The emerald hedgehog looked at his body, seeing his chest was indeed wrapped in bandages. He brought a hand up to his head and felt a bandage wrapped around there too. He didn't think the explosion was that bad, but now that he thought about it he remembered seeing blood after knocking his head against the dashboard full of switches.

"So what's the run down, doc?"

"Well your chest is heavily bruised, and you have a minor concussion from blunt force trauma on your head," Clear said.

"How did I get here?"

"Someone found you just beyond the base's perimeters and as much as you hate here, they brought you to us."

"Hm." He stayed quiet for a moment, silently thanking the good samaritan that decided to take care of him. It was rare having good luck like that for him. "….You're right, I do friggin' hate it here."

"You're lucky someone found you and even brought you here to begin with. You were passed out in the open, something else could have happened to you. At the very least I hope you can even _feel_ worried about your state of being," Clear said, mildly irritated.

Manic grinned softly. "Well, _at the least_ it brings me comfort knowing that someone else does. When she isn't mad at me." The thief regarded her for a few seconds. "Thank you. I know I'm in good hands with you and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate it."

Clear met his gaze and stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "See? Was _that_ so hard to do?"

Manic chuckled. "You're unbelievable."

"Take better care of yourself, you pig-headed numbskull." Unexpectedly, she placed her hand on his arm in a gentle gesture. "I was worried."

Manic grinned softly at her. "How long have you been here?"

"36 hours."

Manic's blood drained out of his face. His heart sank. 36 hours. Robotnik could have escaped by now! He propped himself up, determined to get out of bed. " _Fuck_."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Clear pushed him against the bed again. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Clear, listen to me," he said urgently. "I need to go see the Resistance's chain of command _right now_."

"You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" She saw the determination and seriousness in his eyes.

Manic nodded.

"Then tell me whatever it is you need to tell them and _I'll_ deliver the message for you while you rest."

"No, I need to—"

"Okay, how about this then: you can _record_ a message for them and I'll deliver that to them. Happy? There's no way I'm going to let you walk out like this."

"…..Deal. But it needs to happen like _now_."

With that, Clear pulled out her personal device and recorded Manic's message. Her eyes went wide at the mention of the Chaos Emerald, but she stayed quiet to let him finish what he needed to say. When he finished, Clear stowed away the device and quickly moved to gather her things.

"I understand why it's so urgent. A Chaos Emerald hasn't been seen in _years_." She went over to the medical cabinet in the room and pulled out a medicinal liquid and syringe. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it gets to them as soon as possible."

She flicked the syringe and squeezed out a little of the medication – a damn medical habit that's always made Manic nervous – and instead of going to his IV, she went to his arm and inserted it at the fold of his elbow.

"Uhhh, what's that for?"

"Well….It'll help with your recovery." When she finished administering it, she tossed the syringe in the receptacle across the room and grinned down at him playfully. "I had to make sure you were going to stay put _somehow_."

The second she said those words, Manic started to feel groggy and that's when he came to the realization that she had drugged him. The emerald hedgehog grinned weakly and shook his finger at her while he watched her gather her things. "Awwww, you sly, sly little…."

He couldn't even finish his sentence. His arm fell as he blacked out.

* * *

 _ **Prince Manic the Hedgehog, owner of the most powerful medallion, you have not been forgotten.**_

The emerald hedgehog slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing but a white expanse, as if everything was erased from existence, and he cautiously turned in a circle.

Even after all the time that's passed, he still recognized that voice. It was the Oracle of Delphius, a mobian anteater who was his family's ally back home. It was because of him that Manic's mother was still alive, that any of them were really. His warning of Robotnik's planned assassination prompted Queen Aleena to escape and go into hiding, finding safe havens for the triplets to stay in in the process.

"Where are you?"

 _ **I hope you haven't forgotten who I am.**_

Manic snorted softly. "I could recognize your voice if I heard it twenty years from now, Oracle."

 _ **Then I hope you can come to understand that this, right here, is not a dream Your Highness—**_

"Let's not dive into the _Your Highness_ stuff right now, yeah? I was never comfortable with that royal crap."

 _ **Very well. Manic, out of the royal triplets, you are the only one that has remained loyal to the Medallion and it has decided that your loyalty is true enough to merit its power.**_

Manic fingered his Medallion piercing. "So….all those earthquakes….all of that was really….me? That's— _wow_."

 _ **Indeed it is 'wow.' Of the three, your Medallion is the most powerful. There's so much you have yet to learn about the abilities you've been in possession in; even more so now that those abilities are physically a part of you. It will take much training for you to be able to finesse every aspect.**_

The hedgehog suddenly felt a little nervous. He had barely made it to the tip of the iceberg with his Medallion, but how was he supposed to unleash its full potential with no guidance? If what the Oracle was saying was true, self-learning wasn't going to do much about it.

 _ **Don't worry, Manic. I'll help you understand its full potential. You won't be alone anymore.**_

Something else then clicked in his mind. There was no way that his siblings – or anyone for that matter – could remain loyal to something if they were dead. The Oracle had explicitly said that out of the _three of them_ , Manic was the _only one to remain_ loyal.

"Oracle are Sonic, Sonia and Ma are alive?"

 _ **They are. Since she was nowhere near the radius of the explosion, Sonia is still at your realm and she is doing very well ruling Mobius alongside your mother, who was able to come out of hiding with Robotnik's absence. You, Sonic and Knuckles were not so lucky. Knuckles and Sonic were transported together since they were in the same room when the explosion happened, just as you and Robotnik were. However, the realms you four reside in are alternate realities of each other and it will be easy to jump between them with the Emerald. You are closer than ever to reunite with Sonic and go back to your home dimension, you just have to get that Emerald.**_

"Speaking of which Oracle, can you tell me _why_ the Emerald suddenly appeared? It's been missing for a while now, and I doubt Robotnik's had it for that long. If he did he would have been able to conquer the entire planet by now."

 _ **If one is uncareful, the Chaos Emeralds distribute themselves after each use. The Master Emerald, however, is the one—**_

"Wait, wait, wait," Manic shook his head. " _Master Emerald?_ I just thought there was _one_ Emerald; The _Chaos_ Emerald."

 _ **That's not the case, young hedgehog. There are seven Chaos Emeralds and one Master Emerald. The one you've encountered in the past – the one that's in your reality at the moment – is the Master Emerald. The reason it's only now appeared is because all the Emeralds – Sol Emeralds included – scatter themselves after each use.**_

Manic was astounded at the mention of these 'Sol Emeralds.' How much did he _not_ know about?

 _ **The difference with the Master Emerald is that it usually distributes itself in other**_ **dimensions** _ **. It's part of the reason why Knuckles guards it.**_

"So….someone used it in another dimension and that's why it came here?"

 _ **Correct.**_

"Wow, just my luck," Manic grumbled. "Sounds like I could have been stuck here forever."

 _ **To help you on your journey to retrieve it, you'll need to take Ridge the Raccoon with you.**_

"The kid? Why?" Manic was genuinely confused. How could Ridge help him?

 _ **Trust me, if you want any hope of reuniting with your family as you are right now, you'll need that boy with you. The fates have finally decided to smile upon you and grant you a companion that will not only help you physically but will take the weight of the world off your lonely shoulders.**_

The wording was a little strange, but Manic agreed. "Whatever you say. No point in doubting you now."

 _ **Remember not to over exert yourself with your new ability. The more you use it, the more it will drain your energy. Be wise in how you use it in this upcoming battle. Best wishes, Manic the Hedgehog.**_

"Okay, Oracle."


	7. Chapter 7

Even though the emerald hedgehog felt rested when he came to, his movements were still heavy. Everything the Oracle said replayed in his mind and he sat for a moment to take it in; there was just so much information!

There was more than one Emerald and more importantly, more than one _kind_?! There were different dimensions and realities as well, but most importantly _he had powers now_! And he didn't have to manifest his drums to use them either!

Manic shook his head, hoping his mind would become clear like an Etch-a-Sketch. With so many things happening at once, he figured he should focus on the things he _could_ control for the time being. The situation with the Resistance and the factory was sadly the only one. He pressed the button every patient had which were meant to call in a nurse. A light chuckle came out when he saw Clear come into his room; he was planning on asking for her anyways.

"You sly, sly little fox." He finished the thought he was left with when he last saw her. "But good job. I probably _would_ have gone after you if you didn't take that precaution."

Clear shrugged and gave him a smug smile, sticking her hands in the pockets of her white medical robe.

"So what's the news?"

"It's good: the Resistance have people doing recon right now."

A load of weight came off Manic's shoulders and it felt easier to breathe again. "Thank the gods."

"They didn't have many people available on the go, but they sent everyone they had. Don't worry though, because they're cancelling all other operations to get _everyone_ they have down here. They're going to make this an all-hands mission."

Even better news. With the entire Resistance there, those people were definitely going to be okay. Manic lied back down and let himself relax with a relieved sigh. Regaining his composure, he said, "Keep me updated, yeah? I need to know what's going on with the hostages and the Emerald."

"It won't be easy. It's not like I'm a part of the task forces or the chain of command in charge of them, but fine. I'll do what I can."

"Oh, how's the kid coming along?" Manic asked.

"The raccoon you brought us? He's been doing better each day. Thankfully, we've been able to get his weight up so it'll make running tests a lot easier; there was only so much blood we could take when he was underweight."

"What about his Ability? Do you guys have any idea what's going on with that?" Manic asked, realizing the Oracle didn't give him any information regarding it. He remembered Ridge suspected that the 'visions' were really memories and a sudden thought occurred to him: if that were the case, how would having the kid with him help get back to his family?

Clear hesitated. "Not really. It's still out of control. Sometimes it affects him and it almost always affects the person who physically attends him. I don't know if he sees visions or something, but occasionally he gets worked up to the point where we have to sedate him."

Continuous doses of anything always created addictions and Manic felt his face harden. "You're—"

"Hold on, hold on," Clear snapped up a hand. "Before you say that we're getting him addicted like or something like that, we don't dose him on a regular basis. It's not like we have a schedule or something. We just give him enough to calm him down on the days where he gets _really_ freaked out." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "He screams, Manic. He thrashes. And it's hard try to talk to him when he gets like that."

Hearing how bad Ridge got these days concerned the hedgehog. What _did_ the kid see on that made him lose it like that?

"….What if you put us in a room together?"

Clear snorted.

"Hear me out, hear me out. I think it would be beneficial for all of us, to me and him more importantly. I think I can help him figure out what's going on with him and…." Manic didn't know how to word the next part without having to explain anything more than he wanted to. "….he could help me too. He could help me understand a few things. It would be a win-win for everyone."

Clear narrowed her eyes, considering Manic's request until she finally gave a curt nod and turned to leave. "Okay, I'll see to it that it's done."

* * *

Ridge was asleep – _really_ asleep, uninfluenced by any drug – by the time Clear helped Manic to their new room. After helping him in his new bed Clear left, as it was the end of her shift, leaving the green hedgehog to rest for the remainder of the night. To his relief, Clear had news about the Resistance and their plan the next morning and she walked in to brief him.

"Are you sure you didn't give the kid anything?" Manic asked. "Cuz he's been knocked out since I got here."

"Well, I'm sure it's because he's _resting_ as you should be doing. Now," Clear changed the subject, "the Resistance finally has all of their man power here and they're planning to conduct a full-scale raid tonight. They're planning to have a majority of their forces focus on saving the hostages and a small stealth team is going to focus on stealing the Master Emerald."

 _Steal the Emerald._ It was funny to think that if Manic wasn't in a hospital he would be on that team, no doubts or questions about it. He felt both happy and anxious – happy that the Resistance was going about this so wisely with a full force team, but anxious they wouldn't be able to pull it off. He secretly wished he could be with him to _guarantee_ they would.

"Do you know what they're going to do with it?"

"They're taking it out of the state so Robotnik won't get his hands on it again. They want to take it to the base on the other side of the country to run tests on it."

The anxiety he already felt revved up to 110%. There was _no way_ he could let them take the Master Emerald to the other side of the country! He'd never be able to put his hands on it!

" _What?_ "

"It's about the safest place it could be," Clear explained. "Robotnik doesn't know where that other base is, it'll be under the radar, hidden from him for a long time."

 _Shit, shit, shit._

"Um…..what time are they leaving to do it?"

"10."

It was getting hard to breathe and Manic's stomach started to tie itself into knots.

"You look like crap. I'm gonna let you rest while I go finish my rounds. Make sure to _actually_ rest, you dirtbag," Clear said as she left the room.

* * *

After a while of raw thinking, Manic came up with a conclusive decision; had to break out and retrieve the Emerald himself. The only thing stopping him from doing that would be Clear so as much as it pained him, he knew he had to neutralize her. He pulled out the IV from his arm and, hopping over the freezing cold floor, went for the medical cabinet. If Lady Luck was on his side then…

 _Yes!_ All the cabinets were supplied with the same medicinal drugs! Including the one Clear used on him in his previous room. He snatched a syringe and prepared it with the same substance then he went over to Ridge's side of the room and removed the needles from his arms, taping them on his skin to give the illusion that they were still inserted. With everything prepared, he went back to his bed and pressed the red button for a nurse. As he expected, Clear came in.

"What do you need?"

 _Show time._

"Clear I need you to bring me my things," the emerald thief said in a panic. "I had an important flash drive with information for the rebels and I need to make sure it didn't fly off me when Robotnik assaulted me."

"Shit, really?" She looked worried and Manic mentally gave himself a pat on the back for being so convincing.

"Yeah, just-just bring me _everything._ Pansy, my cloak, my pack – _everything._ I have to check and make sure it's still with me. Their lives could be at stake if Robotnik looks through that thing and sees what they're planning to do."

"Okay, I'll be back in a second," she zipped out.

 _Okay. So far so good, as soon as she comes back, just gotta knock her out and—_

That's when his luck ran out and the boy began to stir in his bed. Yawning and sitting up, he groggily frowned at the sight of a second bed and jumped wide awake when he saw who the occupant was. "Manic?"

"Hey kiddo listen, I know this isn't going to make much sense right now, but when the pretty nurse comes back, I need you to distract her for a few seconds okay?"

"What's going on?" Ridge asked.

The grin he received was almost maniacal. "We're blowing this popsicle stand."

Clear came back about two minutes later carrying a carboard box full of Manic's personal effects and she put it on his lap. "Okay, I have everything here."

"We have another problem; the kid woke up and he said he's not feeling too hot."

As if on cue, Ridge started groaning and clutching his stomach for added effect. "Miss, my stomach _hurts_."

"All right, let's take a look." Clear turned away from Manic and went to check Ridge's temperature, leaving her back completely vulnerable for Manic's surprise attack. He moved fast and grabbed her in a hug to keep her from struggling, stabbing her in the neck with the syringe.

"What the—?!" Since she was taken off guard, she thrashed uselessly against Manic's grip.

"Ssshhh—sh—sh." Manic tossed the syringe aside and used both of his arms to keep her still. Seeing that the two hedgehogs were starting to lean into his bed, Ridge quickly yanked off the IV and the heart monitor cables and hopped off.

"Manic why—Why are you doing this?" Her speech was getting slurred and he could feel her muscles go lax.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Manic murmured into her ear.

"You….asshole….."

She went limp and Manic carefully placed her on Ridge's bed, moving her limbs so she'd be comfortable. As a final touch, Manic confiscated Clear's clipboard and wrote a message on the back of a medical form.

 _She's been drugged by yours truly. Not her fault._

— _The Maniac_


	8. Chapter 8

"And _that_ is how you safely handle a weapon." Manic concluded his training, setting the safety on his spare laser pistol before giving it to Ridge handle-first. Manic looked through the binoculars, his amber eyes searching the area around the factory again for any tiny discrepancy. Deep down it bothered him having to hand a _weapon_ to a child, having to bring him on this escapade in the first place. His skin crawled at the thought of this boy facing the imminent danger inside that factory. It was going to throw him off and even though giving Ridge a means to protect himself – even if it was by a pistol – eased the edge off a little, it wasn't enough.

"This place looks so familiar…." Ridge's whisper seemed to cut through the silence of the still night.

Manic cut him a glance. He was practically swimming in the dark green hoodie he managed to scrounge up for him from his subway hideout. Frowning in concentration, Ridge's copper orbs were glued intensely to the factory. Since they left the hospital ( _left_ not _escaped_ because Manic realized they didn't need to put any effort into sneaking out halfway through), Ridge hadn't suffered another attack from his ability. It was the first time Manic had _ever_ felt unsure about using Pansy. Fear lingered every second he'd been in the air from the possibility of one or both of them suffering through another involuntary attack.

 _Just one more second,_ he'd chanted to himself. _Just hold it together for one more second._

Seeing the raccoon now, the uncertainty came back. Manic _needed_ the boy to keep it together. He laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't lose yourself just yet, kiddo. I need you."

Ridge blinked a few times, as if he were snapping out of a dream, and he refocused instead on Manic.

"Got it," he nodded, full of determination.

The emerald hedgehog gave him his lazy, trademark grin. "That's the spirit."

"How long before we go inside?"

"We're just waiting for our friends to arrive to the party." Manic turned his attention back to the factory. The pair had been on the rooftop of an abandoned building for a while now, staying out of sight from both the Resistance and Robotnik while they waited for a chance to jump into action. The second Manic spotted the Resistance's stealth teams, he and Ridge were going to make a beeline for the Master Emerald and take it for themselves.

Sounded simple enough.

At least, that's how the hedgehog tried to think of it. For one, the factory and its parameters were built up substantially since he was last there. In place of a dingy barb-wired fence there was a tall, thick metal wall with armed post guards shining big beams of light outwards. Security had tripled with a mixture of armed robots. The massive ones roved outside and the smaller ones stayed closer to the factory itself. Paired with these visual downers, the logical part of his brain kept hitting him with ridiculously hard questions that made his teeth grind in frustration.

 _Would the Resistance try to stop him?_

 _How long would it take until Ridge lost it and suffered through another attack from his ability?_

 _Was Robotnik waiting for him to strike?_

 _Where was the Master Emerald even located?_

 _How would they take the Master Emerald out of there?_

And most importantly….

… _ **.How would it take him back to his family?**_

"Manic?" Ridge ripped him out of his thoughts.

The hedgehog brought the binoculars down, scolding himself for spacing out and not paying attention and he looked at the kid. "Yeah?"

"Why did you bring me with you?"

He was at a loss for words for a moment. He didn't know how to explain that in another world, he wouldn't have brought him at all. The _only_ reason he was brought this time was because of The Oracle's vague prophecies.

It occurred to him that it made Ridge sound useless, like a hindrance. Manic felt a pang, remembering how in the past he felt like a liability to his siblings, unable to help accomplish anything. At one point, he even ran away from them after creating a particularly messy situation. But for some reason Sonic and Sonia sought him out and forgave him, as always.

He chose his words carefully. "To be honest kid, I wouldn't have brought you. I don't like the idea of putting you at risk. You're only a, well, a kid. But a good friend of mine said I would need you and I've never had a reason to doubt him before."

"Who?" Ridge asked curiously.

"Someone from my past," Manic said. "He….He helped keep my family safe at one point in time. I owe him."

"He sounds brave."

Manic chuckled. "He was definitely a rebel at heart."

He went back to scanning the terrain and that's when he saw that one of the robot guards seemed to have frozen mid-step. It was something small, something insignificant, but Manic knew better. Hell, he _felt_ it in the pit of his stomach. He kept his sights trained on that robot and a few seconds elapsed before it started to spasm, rotating its upper body back and forth as if it were a glitch in a video. The robots in its close proximity froze and started to spaz as well and Manic grinned.

The Resistance was finally there.

He put the binoculars down. "It's go time."

* * *

Manic couldn't fight the curiosity and he took a close look at one of the robots as he and Ridge started behind The Resistance. It was covered in what looked like tiny, sharp paper airplanes marked in circuitry patterns.

 _So it's an electrical gadget,_ Manic thought.

This meant that more than likely, The Resistance supplied the bots with an excess amount of electricity which caused them to fry. Smart. It took down the competition outside and made it easier to go into the real mission without losing men.

Grinning, Manic shook his head and continued.

Inside, he didn't need his night vision shades since there were red lights blaring off. He thought it was strange that there wasn't an alarm paired with it and it took away an advantage; he'd have to sacrifice haste over stealth. It was eerily still while he and Ridge maneuvered through the maze-like corridors. The renovations Robotnik had made began to frustrate Manic as he tried to remember the exact path to get to the footage room. Everything looked the same and there was absolutely nothing familiar Manic could navigate off of. Ridge tailing him, Manic flattened himself around the nearest corner to take a moment to think.

And that's when the sound of a machine gun suddenly rang out in the halls.

Manic's heart nearly stopped and Ridge practically jumped onto his leg, clutching him tightly. The shock went away as quickly as it came and he began to analyze his surroundings, deduce what was happening.

The sounds were echoes, no where near Ridge and himself so they were safe from discovery. It was a damn guarantee that one of the robots was firing the machine gun which meant The Resistance final ran into opposition. Manic cursed; he was running out of time to get to the Emerald.

"Well Dingo," said a familiar voice. "Look at what we have here."

* * *

Manic detested Sleet, including the sound of his voice. It made his skin crawl in both fear and hatred, made his teeth grind aggressively and his muscles tense. Out of Robotnik's guard dogs – quite a literal term since they were both canine Mobians – he preferred Dingo. A majority of the preference was because of the fact that Dingo wasn't very bright and it made him a prime victim for Manic's particularly mischievous moods. Sleet, on the other hand, was too calculating. He could have been an actual snake for how cunning and cold-hearted he was. Manic held no doubt that the wolf planned to rebel against Robotnik at one point in time.

The emerald hedgehog shifted in front of Ridge protectively, mentally cursing Sleet and Dingo out. He did _not_ need this right now. His mind raced to find a solution to get them out of this one, to create a distraction long enough for the pair to escape and go back to tracking the Emerald. Maybe if they each took a shot of Robotnik's duo and stunned them long enough to escape they'd have a chance, but Manic didn't trust Ridge's aim. If the raccoon missed, they'd go into an all out shooting spree.

"Robotnik will be pleased," Sleet said, the words heavy with his accent. Manic made a face as he spoke, the sound of his voice extremely displeasing to his ears. "We found him the hedgehog _and_ the experiment that got away."

His words made no sense to the emerald thief. _Experiment? Got away?_

"M-Manic, don't let the Bad Man take me." Ridge clutched onto his arm like his life depended on it, shaking so hard he was practically rattling. "Please."

The world seemed to crash down on Manic's shoulders as he remembered the first time he touched Ridge. The memories he experienced were overwhelmingly painful and there were these shadows that seemed to loom above him in every one.

" _I don't know if they can fix me,"_ Ridge had said.

" _What do you mean? What's wrong?"_

" _I….the Bad Man did something to me and now I'm seeing weird things in my head."_

Sleet, the Bad Man, was the one who had tortured Ridge, shocked, drowned, and locked him away with countless others. Their moans and wails echoed in Manic's ears and his blood began to boil. He could only imagine the smug expression on Sleet's face as he did these heinous acts, it was probably the same expression he was wearing now.

"Oh you ignorant rodent, he can't protect you. He was never even able to protect himself. Dingo," he nodded his head towards Manic and Ridge while he brought his wrist up to his mouth. "Doctor, we found him. And we found you subject number 116."

There was static before Robotnik's voice replied, "Excellent. Kill the boy and finish off the job. He's the last one. And bring the hedgehog to me alive. I don't care in what state he's in, just make sure he's alive."

There was too much new information running through Manic's mind: Robotnik was behind this. He was running some sort of twisted experiment _as_ he was also roboticizing. Did the Emerald have anything to do with it? Ridge was an escaped victim and he somehow escaped from _this_ prison, this science lab, this torture chamber. No wonder this place had seemed familiar to him earlier when they were staking the area out. And Sleet. He was this _Bad Man,_ the one responsible for personally overseeing the torture on innocent people, on innocent children.

The shock of it all faltered Manic for half a second before he whipped out his pistol and shot through Dingo's leg when he took a step forward. Instinct and habit made him shake off the revelations as he prioritized one thing and one thing only: survival. Sleet and Dingo had to be dealt with _now_. This other stuff could be dwelled on _later_.

Crying out in pain, Dingo fell to the ground. Manic switched his pistol too stun mode, shooting the dog again for good measure, and he switched back to lethal as he pointed it back to Sleet. Dingo twitched in the space between them like a fish out of water.

"You're going to do jack shit," Manic said. "The _only_ thing you're going to do is tell me where the hell the Emerald is."

Sleet held his hands up in mock surrender. "Temper, temper, little hedgehog."

Manic _despised_ Sleet the most for this reason, the fact that the wolf had a way of unnerving him, getting under his skin, unraveling his usually cool façade. And Sleet knew it.

But at the time, Manic didn't care. He lost all reason in a spout of anger and he took a shot at Sleet.

Big mistake.


	9. Chapter 9

The wolf was fast and he rolled out of the way before Manic's laser bullet could pierce him. The hedgehog reacted a second later, pushing Ridge to go around the corner for cover. He followed Sleet's path with his pistol and fired, but he kept missing. He snarled, scolding himself. He knew better than to fire blindly at his opponent, but he couldn't help it.

"Dingo!" Sleet barked.

The huge canine growled viciously as he fought against his spasmodic muscles and to Manic's frustration, he began to stand. He could see what their plan was; Sleet was going to focus on Manic while Dingo overpowered the tiny raccoon.

"Ridge!" he yelled over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off Sleet for a millisecond. "Remember what I taught you!"

As Dingo lumbered over to the kid, Manic dodged Sleet's oncoming fire, rolling toward a crook in the wall for cover.

"Don't make this harder on yourself, hedgehog," Sleet called out once he stopped shooting. "You heard the doctor. He wants you alive. You'd be doing us all a favor if you turned in right now."

"Never, you dumb fucking mutt!"

He could actually hear the wolf snarl and despite his anger, it made him smirk just a tiny bit. It felt good to get under _his_ skin, too. Using the cease fire to his advantage, he turned his attention to Ridge and Dingo. The raccoon was doing exactly what Manic wanted to, firing at Dingo with a straight face. But his aim was off. Manic took Sleet's moment of cease-fire to intervene. He raised his pistol and took aim at one of Dingo's leg, blowing through it with a lethal shot which caused the dog to howl in pain.

After that he flattened himself against the crook again and closed his eyes, thinking about what to do next. The Oracle had said he had his Medallion's powers now. He'd used his Medallion for years now, he knew how too rip the Earth open or shake it with his drums. Now that he actually inherited his power, he didn't know if it worked the same but he figured there was no reason for it not to.

So he decided to take a risk.

He jumped out from his safe space and focused on sending a blow to Sleet, imagining his drums creating the vibrations he needed to get a feel for the ground below. The ground was always there, a reliable source ready to do what Manic beckoned. As he's done millions of times before, he urged it forward. Out of habit, he even whipped his hands as if he were hitting his drums, something he didn't even realize he did.

And it worked.

The ground beneath rippled like a shark between Manic and Sleet, starting out small on Manic's end and growing while it travelled to Sleet. Then it spiked out like a jumping dolphin and it surprised Sleet so much, he stumbled backwards.

That was Manic's chance and he had Sleet down in a second. Maybe it made him a sadistic monster, but he liked hearing Sleet scream out when he shot through both of his legs. It wasn't necessary, a part of him deep inside knew, but it was being snuffed out by the bigger part of him that yearned for revenge. Ridge's memory flashed in the back of his mind, the memory of all those people begging and crying for mercy, the memory of Ridge being electrocuted. Manic didn't think twice in fact, he didn't think at all. He blew off Sleet's hands and then shot through his shoulders, completely disabling him.

"You miserable rat!" Sleet spat at the hedgehog, who looked over him with a dead set expression. "I should have killed you when I had the chance! The _only_ reason you're alive is because the doctor is stupid enough to believe that he can kill you himself! I had many opportunities in the past to blow your heads off but I didn't because of _him_ and I regret it every _day_ —"

Manic had heard enough. He jumped on the wolf, clutched his collar and slammed him against the concrete.

"Shut the fuck up." His tone was unrecognizable. It was low, menacing, with a snarl that matched Sleet's best one. "And tell me where the damn Emerald is at _now_. If you don't, I'm going to shoot you until you bleed out like the worthless piece of shit you are."

Sleet had the audacity to smirk. "My, my. He does have a bite to him."

Manic's skin crawled. The wolf was enjoying watching him break down from his usually light demeanor. He was satisfied that he was driving Manic to the edge, making him give in to unadulterated fury, making him embrace the darkness. Seeing that smirk drove Manic to slam him again. "The only reason you're alive right now is because you know where it is. You mean _nothing_ to me, you mean less than roadkill does. I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to. Where. Is. The Master. Emerld?"

Sleet began to laugh—actually _laugh_ —and it fueled Manic's fury even _more_. He punched him four times in the face before jerking him up close to his face. "Where is it?!"

"You're trying to get back to them aren't you?" Sleet choked out, blood spilling out his nose and the corners of his jaw. The claim was so unexpected, Manic's expression slipped for half a second and Sleet caught it.

"You believe they're alive after all these years?" Sleet said with a bloody smile. "That's cute. With any luck, the Emerald will kill you too and the Oracle's prophecy will come true."

Manic was shaking and he knew it was because Sleet hit a very personal nerve. It was the number one rule when conducting any operation: never let it be or become personal.

But how could this not be? It was his family for shit's sake. His body reacted before his mind did and he punched him. He punched him so much, he didn't register that he was actually beating the wolf to a bloody pulp until Ridge tackled his arm.

"Manic! Manic stop!'

Heavily breathing, the hedgehog sat back, seeing but not processing the beaten form laying underneath him. Sleet was struggling to breathe, each breath coming in raspy and forced. It occurred to him that he should apologize, he should be ashamed of exposing Ridge to this, he should try to shield the boy from this gruesome image, but the thought was cloudy and muggy. All he could do was sit.

"I'll find out where it is," Ridge said.


	10. Chapter 10

He had no idea if it was going to work. Hell he had no idea how it _did_ work, but what he's discovered so far is that it goes AWOL when his emotions get out of control. Watching Manic turn blind with rage scared him shitless, but he figured that he could use that to his advantage and find out where the Emerald is at.

He moved slowly, cautiously as he let go of Manic's arm and went to touch Sleet's battered head. He felt like any quick motion would alarm the hedgehog and as it seemed that he wasn't 100% _there_ , Ridge wanted to give him a second to collect himself. The other reason was that Ridge himself was partially in shock. His breathing was rattled and his arms shook, but he held it together. The second he touched Sleet's head, he let go.

He let himself be scared.

The familiar overwhelming sensation flooded his little head. There was so much chaos, different images and voices. He saw Sleet in different stages of his life and snippets of the wolf's harsh life, all the hardships he endured before he decided to be the inflictor, not the inflected. From there, Ridge saw all the chaos and pain Sleet caused. He heard screams, cries, gunshots and explosions. He saw blood, gore, guns and dead bodies.

He didn't want to see these things anymore so as hard as it was, he forced himself to focus. He thought of the factory and he could feel Sleet's memories whiz past in compliance. It was as if Ridge was fast forwarding through a movie; he didn't want to see the beginning, he only cared about the end. When he began to see familiar cells and experimentation tables, he knew he was in the right area of Sleet's mind.

Then he saw it.

The Master Emerald.

He'd never seen it up close before and it was so big and gorgeous, Ridge wanted to stare at it all day. He was surprised how delicate it looked yet the glow that it emitted radiated power. He felt Sleet's temptation to steal it every time he saw it. Ridge called up memories of the times Sleet's been in the same room, which paths the wolf took to get there. Once he saw the corridor he and Manic were in, he knew where to go and how to get there, the correct directions mapped out in his brain. Then he saw something that made his heart sink to his stomach. He saw how Sleet walked past the same corridor he and Manic were in and killed everyone held captive.

Everyone from his village.

They were dead.

Sleet had taken a small entourage of robots and slaughtered everyone locked away in a cell. Shot at them excessively, unnecessarily. Ridge saw his friend Meadow—a kind chipmunk who lived in the tree just over the creek back home—cry in the corner of her cell. Her hands were in her hair and she looked up fearfully at Sleet from her crouched position. She was shaking.

Sleet raised his gun and shot her in the head. Her brains splattered the corner as her body went limp and to Ridge's horror, Sleet shot her four more times just because he _liked_ it. That feeling of pleasure made Ridge sick to his stomach.

Sleet sighed and looked down the corridor of cells, hearing people scream as they heard the robots open fire at every cell and realize they were being massacred. Then he looked to the cell across from Meadow's and Ridge recognized his neighbors, Ms. River and her son, Ridge's best friend, Scooter.

 _No_. Ridge's blood turned to ice.

Ms. River was hugging Scooter tightly, protecting him with her body, telling him that she loved him as she cried in his fur. Ridge couldn't stop seeing this, he couldn't pull out of Sleet's memories and what horrified him the most was the realization that he was living this out first person, he wasn't watching Sleet like a ghost anymore.

He _was_ Sleet.

 _He_ raised the gun to Ms. River and blew her head off like Meadow's. _He_ took satisfaction in hearing Scooter scream out in pain and heartbreak.

" _Mom, no!"_

Ridge felt glee as he held off on shooting Scooter while he scrambled over Ms. River's dead body and shook her as if her head wasn't just demolished.

" _Mom, please wake up!"_ he cried hysterically. _"Please! Don't leave me."_

Ridge shot Scooter in the back, missing his head on purpose and—

" _ **RIDGE WAKE UP!"**_

Seeing Ridge's reaction was a much needed slap to the face.

Whatever the kid was witnessing, it must have been the most horrifying thing in history, which Manic wouldn't have been surprised if it were; it _was_ Sleet Ridge was mentally probing. He watched as the raccoon's focused frown scrunched into something close to shock and disbelief. Then it morphed into an expression of grief and tears began forcing their way through his eyelids, which were squeezed shut. His body tensed, fingers curling into fists and clutching Sleet's bloodied fur.

Manic reached out too touch him but refrained. He didn't know if he was allowed to touch Ridge while he was using his ability or not. "Ridge?"

The raccoon's ears flattened and he started to sob through clenched teeth. It looked like he was trying to say something, but he didn't, he couldn't.

"Ridge?"

He winced to seeing whatever he was exposed to and his head lowered, making him seem like a scolded animal. The shaking made it seem like he was struggling to get control and that's when Manic said fuck it. He grabbed the kid's shoulder. "Ridge wake up."

Though he was spasming, he was as solid as a rock and he didn't move. He groaned as if he was trying to talk, but the words couldn't make it past his clenched jaw. His body jerked violently, prompting Manic to shake his shoulder. "Hey, kid! Snap out of it!"

But he couldn't. He was stuck, visibly struggling and losing. He tried to breathe, but it went in as pained gasps until he screamed. It was so sorrowful and sudden, Manic immediately grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him hard. "RIDGE WAKE UP!"

The gasp let him know he was back with him, in the real world, but the second he opened his eyes the tears practically poured out. He struggled to breathe and his body was still as tense as it was when he went under.

"Sh-sh, Ridge I need you to breathe, okay? Breathe for me." Manic inhaled deeply and held the boy's head in his huge hands to get him to focus on him. "What happened, what did you see?"

"They're gone, Manic. They're all gone," Ridge choked out, pressing his face into Manic's chest as he clutched onto his vest.

"Who—Who's gone?" Seeing the kid like this was starting to freak him out and he was starting to feel shaky with panic.

"My village—the hostages."

" _Kill the boy and finish off the job,"_ Robotnik had said. _"He's the last one."_

 _Oh._

There were no hostages anymore.


End file.
